Being that the parry-riposte is my favorite style, I thought I'd share a few things I've learned.
General design:
ST: 7-11 Strength isn't all important to the P.R. An 11 will gives you all well suited weapons. I'll even go as high as 17, but with no dramatic effect.
CN: Any A higher con will give a better endurance and make survival easier.
SZ: Any Although a smaller size gives you a defensive bonus.
WT: 15-21 As with all other styles the higher the better. 15 will give the epee. A P.R. needs to learn skills to survive.
WL: 13-21 Will is as important as wit. It helps endurance and life expectancy. A higher will allows you to pick apart most scum.
SP: 5-13, 13 is a major breakpoint but it's not necessary to go that high. A combo of 15 wit, 15 deftness and 11 speed will give you an expert in riposte with any luck.
DF: 13-21 The higher the coordination the easier it is to hit your attack location. A 15 will give you the epee.
The perfect P.R. would look something like this: 9-4-5-17-21-11-17 with starting skill bases like:
Ini: 60% Rip: 90% Att: 75% Par: 70% Def: 75% Dec: 40%One of my first PRs looked like this: 15-10-9-15-15-6-14, Thror the Dark. He was extremely unlucky as far as starting skills. He now looks a little different: 17-11-9-17-16-7-15 with 90% Init, 145% Rip, 130% Att, 130% Par, 115% Def and 80% Dec. I destroyed him with early stat raises.
I had a similar design that was luckier, at least until he got X-ed by a slasher in a tourney. He died with a 12-3-1 record. But enough of that. You're probably wanting to get on with the strategies.
So getting on with it, I've tried both offensive and defensive strategies. Generally defensive has worked better for me. Something like: 3-6-6 going offensive in minute 3 or 4 with a 10-8-6 or a 9-7-6 and then backing off to a 6-4-6 or a 4-5-6.
As far as tactics go I don't use 'em very often. If you use any offensive tactic use the lunge or nothing. Defensively use dodge and parry sparingly, if at all, and don't use the riposte tactic after you've achieved a master.
Okay, now on to weapons and armor. A parry-riposte is somewhat limited when it comes to weapons. The longsword is their best choice against heavier armors. I once tried the halberd (I'll wait until you finish laughing.) Anyway, Thror the Dark savagely slew Spymaster with it. I only give the PR an off hand weapon with epee, shortsword or the longsword.
I've done varying things with armor, but I've found that lighter armor works better, personal favorites being APL, ARM, and ASM. I read an article about the parry-riposte of doom that made me laugh. It said something about wearing more armor than expected of a PR, listing nothing higher than ACM+F. Imagine what he would have thought fighting Thror the Dark in APA+
-- Necrom, mgr. of Knightmares (33), Pentad Paladins (55), Northlanders (70)